User Reviews

Purchased this bottle along with many others of its caliber for a small group tasting and it one I was really looking forward to as it is beyond hard to come by. It was extremely tasty but I have to say that the fruit was almost completely gone.

750ml bottle, dated 10 February 2003. Served in a Drie Fonteinen stemmed glass on 18 August 2015.

Pours a hazy, darker orange body, with a slight brownish hue as expected, half a finger white head materializes briefly and then passes through town quickly before disappearing. It looks like a 12 year old beer should. Smells of wonderful funk, oak, straw; a very oak-forward nose with a fair bit of lemon. The funk is very potent and remains so even after decanting the glass out for a solid hour. Very impressive funk. Flavour is quite different, however. Certainly there is a large amount of funk, but not as much on the nose. A bit on the sweeter side. Wheat, malt, mild lemon and white vinous character rather than red, which I believe is opposite from what is actually used. Very dry. It develops more of a peppercorn character as it warms. Straw. Moderate acidity, certainly not anywhere near heartburn inducing. Good complexity. Mouthfeel is standard 3F; medium-bodied, softer carbonation as expected for a 12 year old bottle. Finishes with a hefty dose of oak and straw. Overall, this bottle made it through the ages and is still smelling like a champ. I can still recall the smell vividly. Taste-wise, I think newer lambic vintages/blends have more to offer, but this was still a very interesting tasting experience.

Pours a murky honey orange with a foamy off-white head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is sour with grain, fruit, floral, funk, acidic, and wood aromas. Taste is much the same with sour grain, fruit, floral, and funk flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of acidity on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer with a nice mix of sour fruit and floral qualities that are slightly better in the smell to me.

Being so old, this beer has clearly been ravaged by the yeast and bugs- it is highly carbonated and a tad thin. Absolutely amazing though. Mineral flavored bright finish, very tart and musky like many old lambic/gueuzes. A subtle wine character which almost resembles berry, albeit very light. Some cheese and mustiness on the nose. Nose also has very light oxidation which just seems to tame things a tad. A little sweet and a little darker golden color than I expected likely due to Oxidation. I wish I could drink this every day, but instead I probably will never have an opportunity again.

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A - great color, nice dark read, nice head with great lacing.
n - smells of dark citrus fruit
m- nice and viscous, great carbonation
t - amazing, not one thing I would complain about
absolutely amazing beer. Thank you Mnbearsfan for this awesome birthday present.

Appearance: The cork burst out of the bottle as soon as I loosened the cage, but thankfully the beer only manages a very slow gush and never actually makes it out of the bottle. A gentle pour does however fill the glass with a massive off white head and only a sliver of bright orange beer. Oddly the head fizzes away almost instantly and leaves nothing in the way of lacing and a swirl leaves the faintest traces of alcohol legs.

Smell: This smells delicious – there isn’t much in the way of fruit, but the nose is bursting with signature 3F funk. There is lots of must, wet hay, a little cheese, earthy old wood, oak, lactic acidity and a little cider vinegar. As the nose begins to open up the tart white grape become apparent (but still not enough that you would think it was a grape beer) alongside some tarter stone fruits and a light underlying sweetness. There is no alcohol noted, but the nose does seem somewhat fuller/heavier than a standard lambic.

Taste: As with the nose, there is not much fruit in the initial flavor but it still absolutely delicious. Initial notes include: A musty character, old wood, wet hay, tart lemony notes, tart white grape, forest floor, an earthiness, a solid tartness and a lovely acidity. As the beer warms, the nose begins to open up with slightly tannic grape skins (about the only thing that lets you know there were grapes added), some overripe fruit and a touch of oak. There is no trace of the 8% but there is something that lets you know that this is stronger than your average lambic.

Mouthfeel: Wow this is fizzy! I usually find lambics somewhat over carbonated but this one is higher than usual and somewhat harsh. The carbonation does settle down after a while but not quite as quickly as I’d like. The body is heftier than a standard lambic - medium with a touch of stickiness.

Overall: Malvasia Rosso is one fantastic lambic, sure there is virtually no fruit left, but the funk character is just superb and signature 3F. I will have to get another bottle or two of this and see what the next 10 years do to the flavor.

Review #750! Huge thanks to Kramer for sharing this one with us during his christmas party this year.

A - Pours golden yellow with a fizzy one finger tall white head, quickly dissipating down to a light film, leaving little trails of lace on the sides of the glass.

S - Smells of strong must, typical 3F horse blanket funk, earthen minerals, very light fruitiness from the grapes and some minimal sweetness. This one smells incredible, easily the best part of this beer.

T - Starts off much like the nose with the barnyard funk and grape skin must quickly being joined by some mild fruitiness, light sweetness and dry oak. Finish is pretty dry, lingering long after the finish. Very gueuze like in all honesty.

M - Medium body with moderate carbonation. Spritzy feel, no overly sour, more funky making it really easy to consume.

O - Really nice lambic, just not one of the best ever. I would never turn it down again but I wouldn't trade my entire cellar for it either. I had been looking to try this one for a long time and I am incredibly grateful to Kramer for sharing it with us. Thanks buddy!

From notes, 8/12/11. Thanks to westcoastbeerlvr. Pours a beautiful gold with a fine collar of white bubbles. Directly compared to another beer, it does seem to have the faintest shade of pink mixed in, but it’s not noticeable on its own. The aroma is fantastic. It’s all sour notes and funk with a juicy fruit note. It’s almost a berry-ish grape flavor, like blackberries mixed in red wine. The taste is dry and earthy with lots of sour - ~7/10 on the pucker scale. Great stuff.

T-The malvasia grapes are much more prominent in the flavor. They seem to lend a gentle sweetness to the taste of the beer. Lemon is also present with an ample amount of funk, cob web, and must.

M-The beer has a medium body with lively carbonation and a long finish. The carbonation actually caught me off guard at first. For such an old beer, it seemed overcarbonated.

O-Drie Fonteinen can do no wrong in my book, every beer I have ever had from Armand has been a treat and this was no exception. Having Lente earlier in the day, I think still think I prefer that, but this was still an incredible beer.

T: Follows nose, but more oakiness comes through. Good balance of sweet and tart accompanied by loads of funk and earthiness. Vinous white grape is soft and rounded out by nice must character. Very easy to drink!

M: Light bodied with soft, gentle, smooth carbonation. Dry as well.

O: Age has done wonderful things to this beer! Crisp, soft, rounded, and very refreshing. Oh so nice and just another great classic from Armand.

The beer is golden hued and mostly clear with a small white head that leaves sparse lacing on the glass. The aroma offers a healthy dose of acid with white grapes. The flavor is bright and acetic, with more oak than was present in the nose. Classic Drie Fonteinen funk is present and enjoyable, as I was hoping / expecting. Some nice grape quality still exists, similar in some regards to a fine white wine. Pretty light in body with a good amount of carbonation. Overall, this was quite good, and I am glad to have tried it.

t - Tastes of sour grapes and sour fruits, oak, bready malts, funk, musty notes, eartyh notes, hay, dirt. I like it but the taste seems a bit old/past its prime; not quite as funky or sour as the nose.

m - Medium body and moderate carbonation. Acedic, easy to drink.

o - Overall a nice beer, though seemed a bit past its prime. The nose is still quite sour and funky, but the taste was a bit bready and musty. Really fun to try, would have it again.

Bottle at the DC Lambic & Sour Tasting on April 14, 2012. Served in a Drie Fonteinen wine glass.

Poured a clear golden-peach color with a small white head that left some spots of lacing before falling to a thin collar.

The nose brought forward a nice, bright lactic acidity along with some white grapes and additional acid. More acidic in the nose than the typical Drie Fonteinen lambic.

The flavor continued on this trend, as the white grapes brought an additional acid component not found in most 3F beers. The underlying funk melded quite well with this, though not quite as much as most of Armand's blends. This seemed more Cantillon-esque. Of course, still quite good.

Body was light with moderate acidity and light-medium funk through the back end. Carbonation was average, and was followed by a very dry, fairly-acidic finish.

I'm quite glad to have finally tried this one. It was very different than expected, but highly-enjoyable nonetheless.

O: This beer was incredible, pairing my beloved Drie Fonteinen funkiness with the most amazing vinous aftertaste I've ever experienced. Even the two Lambic newbies in my group of friends agreed that this was a truly delicious beer. I feel lucky to have gotten to try it.

Wow. This has been a huge want that I completely gave up on trying. Thanks Eric!
Bottled 02.10.2003.

Shared by turdferguson-- thanks a lot!

Hazy light golden with some orangey hues. Huge fluffy fizzy white head. Great retention-- and tons of streaming bubbles racing up the middle of my flute.

Smells of earthy funk, like a French wine, little manure notes, and a surprising amount of grapiness.
Initaially this was a little overcarbonated which hurt the flavor-- as it sat, it settled out a bit and and the flavor is glorious; everything from the nose and a light champagne-like grape flavor. Light sweetness up front fades to a tasty dry finish.

Overall-- such a glorious experience. Thanks again to Eric for the chance at this one!

A: Despite a very slow pour this beer was super carbonated and very foamy. After my glass of foam settled into a fizzy bright white head, the beer is clear light orange-golden color.
S: I get notes of funk, sweat, and grapes. This beer is sweet, funky and vinous smelling.
T: Follows the nose with a very vinous white grape flavor, but I also get notes of citrus rind, lemon, sweet sugar and a bit of earth. The finish has just a touch of funk to it.
M: The fizzy carbonation really bubbles up on my palate. This beer is lightly tart but I’m not getting any acetone or vinegar. Medium body, drying mouth.
O: Another great beer from 3F. This one was very light in flavor and easy to drink. Great grape flavor, but the high carb was a little distracting. Thanks again, Chad.

Thanks to Nate for this! I expected a red color from this grape druiven lambic and was surprised to see a clear orange golden liquid in the glass, with a fizzy white head. Aroma is fairly toned down from the Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze though showed more sweet, fruity aromas without a lot of the citrus. Hay and farmyard still all over this. The flavor is champagne like, grape is not evident except for the apparent sugars it contributed. Lots of tight hay, oak, tart flavors going on. A bit sweet in comparison to the other lambics we were drinking but really soft and complex, balanced at the same time. I love the finish on this, super long and complex, totally champagne like, great blend. Will they make this again?

Pour is a hazed amber color with a tight white bubbly head. Great funky rind up front in the nose with a subtle dust to it. Lightly brett, bright white grapes with a gentle tartness. The flavors are the same but slightly muddled from the assertive carbonation. The funk is still forward but the fruits are not as bright. Light body and semi dry finish. Works well together but a touch flabby.